1972–1979: Background singing and early releases at Columbia Records In 1972, Fricke moved to
Los Angeles, California, in hopes of finding work as a background singer for recording studios. and sang soprano. During the mid-1970s, Fricke appeared on more than 5,000 records as part of the Lea Jane Singers, making an estimated $100,000 per year. The quartet added backing vocals to the sessions of artists like
Lynn Anderson,
Elvis Presley and
Tanya Tucker. In March 1978, Columbia released her debut studio album
Singer of Songs. The disc spawned two more charting singles, including a cover of
Hank Locklin's "
Please Help Me, I'm Falling (In Love with You)". The cover reached number 12 on the
Billboard country chart and number four on Canada's
RPM country chart. In her early days at Columbia, Fricke continued providing background and harmony work to other performers. In 1978, she was featured in the background of
Charlie Rich's "
On My Knees". This time, she was given credit on the single's release. The song later topped the
Billboard country chart. Of its three singles, only "
I'll Love Away Your Troubles for a While" reached the top 20 in the United States. By this point, Fricke was having challenges establishing a musical identity. With a diverse musical output, disc jockeys were unsure about playing her records. Critics also took notice of her versatality.
AllMusic's Jim Worbois commented, "Fricke has a big voice and gives the impression she can do a lot with it. She just never gets around to it on this record. Maybe it's the songs or maybe the arrangements, but she never seems to get into these songs or comes close to putting any emotion in her performances."
1980–1989: Commercial peak Fricke's uncertainty with her musical direction prompted producer Billy Sherrill to suggest that Fricke choose one style to record. In 1980, she started focusing on ballads and teamed with producer
Jim Ed Norman. He produced her next single "
Down to My Last Broken Heart". It climbed to the number-two spot on the
Billboard and
RPM country charts. which became her first to chart the
Billboard country albums survey. The album was a collection of ballads recorded in a
country two-step style. The disc's
title track became a top-five single on the American country songs chart in 1981. The disc climbed to number 10 on the
Billboard country chart, her highest-charting LP yet. A duet with
Larry Gatlin titled "From Time to Time (It Feels Like Love Again)" made the top 40 of the
Billboard country chart. It included her next number-one single "
Your Heart's Not in It", In describing the project's material, Fricke told the
Chicago Tribune, "They have more of a medium beat and basic country feel. We even use a steel guitar on a couple of them.". The album spawned the top-five American and Canadian country songs "
She's Single Again", "
Easy to Please", and the
title track. Kurt Wolff of
Country Music: The Rough Guide noticed a "bluesier and almost gutsier vocal sound" on the disc. The album became her first to reach the top of the
Billboard country LP's chart. Its lead single "
Always Have, Always Will" reached number one in the United States and Canada. Her 1987 album
After Midnight was her second to feature her new last name. It was also her second produced by Norro Wilson. The record's lead single was a cover of the
Rusty Draper pop hit "
Are You Satisfied". It became her last to reach the
Billboard country top 40. In 1992, Fricke signed with the smaller
Intersound label. Her first Intersound release was a 1991
eponymous studio record. The project spawned the single "I Want to Grow Old with You". It was her final single to make a major chart appearance, reaching number 74 on the
RPM country survey. Fricke's final Intersound/Branson release was 1993's
Now & Then. The album was a revisited collection of Fricke's catalog in which she re-recorded her most well-known material. In the new millennium, Fricke launched her own record label titled JMF. For the first time in her career, she promoted and sold the album entirely through the internet. In 2002, Smith Music released Fricke's first live album titled ''Live at Billy Bob's Texas''. The project was recorded at a dance hall in
Fort Worth, Texas called "Billy Bob's", which first opened in 1981. The disc was sold exclusively on television and was promoted in partnership with the
Dodge automotive company.
The Bluegrass Sessions gathered a group of bluegrass pickers and session musicians who were often used in the genre. The project was released on DM Records in 2004. In 2012, it was re-released on New Music Deals and retitled as
The Country Side of Bluegrass. Both bluegrass collections received mixed reviews from writers and journalists. AllMusic's Greg Adams gave
The Bluegrass Sessions 4-1/2 out of five stars and praised its overall quality: "[Her biggest hits] adapt so well to the bluegrass treatment that traditionalists may prefer the remakes over the originals, especially since the arrangements hew closely to a traditional bluegrass sound with acoustic instrumentation, fiddles, and banjo." Meanwhile,
NPR's Ken Tucker found her voice to have aged, but still had emotional depth. "Janie Fricke uses the urgency she feels to sustain her career to flood her bluegrass with compelling emotion," he concluded. In 2008, Fricke returned to her own music label to release a studio album of new country recordings titled
Roses & Lace. In the years that followed, she spent time touring and working on other projects outside of music. The disc featured a lead single composed by Fricke titled "The Followers". ==Musical styles and voice==